Field Trial of an Automated Batch Chlorinator System at Two Shared Shallow Tubewells among Camps for Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Nuhu Amin, Mahbubur Rahman, Mahbub-Ul Alam, Abul Kasham Shoab, Md. Kawsar Alome, Maksudul Amin, Tarique Md. Nurul Huda and Leanne Unicomb
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Nuhu Amin: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Diseases Division, icddr,b, 68, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Mahbubur Rahman: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Diseases Division, icddr,b, 68, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Mahbub-Ul Alam: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Diseases Division, icddr,b, 68, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Abul Kasham Shoab: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Diseases Division, icddr,b, 68, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Md. Kawsar Alome: Action Against Hunger, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Maksudul Amin: Action Against Hunger, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Tarique Md. Nurul Huda: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Diseases Division, icddr,b, 68, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Leanne Unicomb: Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Diseases Division, icddr,b, 68, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-19

Abstract: Chlorination of shallow tubewell water is challenging due to various iron concentrations. A mixed-method, small-scale before-and-after field trial assessed the accuracy and consistency of an automated chlorinator, Zimba, in Rohingya camp housing, Cox’s Bazar. From August–September 2018, two shallow tubewells (iron concentration = 6.5 mg/L and 1.5 mg/L) were selected and 20 households were randomly enrolled to participate in household surveys and water testing. The field-team tested pre-and post-treated tubewell and household stored water for iron, free and total chlorine, and E. coli. A sub-set of households ( n = 10) also received safe storage containers (5 L jerry cans). Overall mean iron concentrations were 5.8 mg/L in Zimba water, 1.9 mg/L in household storage containers, and 2.8 mg/L in the project-provided safe storage containers. At baseline, 0% samples at source and 60% samples stored in household vessels were contaminated with E. coli (mean log 10 = 0.62 MPN/100 mL). After treatment, all water samples collected from source and project-provided safe storage containers were free from E. coli , but 41% of post-treated water stored in the household was contaminated with E. coli . E. coli concentrations were significantly lower in the project-provided safe storage containers (log 10 mean difference = 0.92 MPN, 95% CI = 0.59–1.14) compared with baseline and post-treated water stored in household vessels (difference = 0.57 MPN, 95% CI = 0.32–0.83). Zimba is a potential water treatment technology for groundwater extracted through tubewells with different iron concentrations in humanitarian settings.

Keywords: automated chlorine dispenser; underground water chlorination; shallow tubewell; humanitarian; drinking water quality; Bangladesh (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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